Health Article Writer: How I Became One

I have been a health article writer for about three years now. I’ve been a doctor for five years, and a blogger for three. I’m relatively a newbie, an amateur who needs to learn much more before her potential is truly met. But I have been fortunate to find opportunities, to have been published online and offline as a health article writer. And I want to share with you how looking for writing jobs is not that easy.

Health Article Writer: Having An Edge

I must admit, being a licensed physician and graduating with honors from medical school have helped usher in many opportunities. But I also believe that having applied at more than a hundred companies during my first year as a health article writer has helped put the odds in my favor.

The fact that I loved writing at an early age helped me as well. Any person will excel best in a field he is passionate about. We tend to do our best when we are working on a project that is close to our hearts.

We tend to do our best when we are working on a project that is close to our hearts.

If anybody told my eight-year-old self that I was going to become a doctor and a health article writer, I would have laughed in disbelief. It would have seemed to be the stuff dreams are made of. Our family came from humble beginnings, with both my parents rarely at home because they were working hard for my future. We were not well-off; no, we were far from it. Having the resources for medical school seemed impossible and far out. So, you might ask, what is the one thing that made my dreams a reality? Read on to find out.

Health Article Writers: Too Numerous To Count

Health article writers are a dime a dozen. Many think it’s easy to come up with health articles, thanks to Wikipedia and the onslaught of health articles online. But these sources are not well-verified; they are, in other words, not very good sources. Health articles are best supported by journal articles. Becoming a health article writer means learning the ropes of medical research.

For instance, do you know the difference between a cohort study and a case control study? Do you know what the acronym “RCT” means? If you don’t, then you should – that is, if you want to be a good health article writer. Health articles need citations and a strong foundation for them to be reliable and accurate.

I realized that writing health articles for websites and online platforms is very different from writing health articles for print media (which is something I shall discuss in tomorrow’s blog post). The techniques are oceans apart. What techniques you should master will be dictated by which platform you want to excel in.

I am now writing for four different print publications, something I shall be eternally grateful for. I also contribute to different health websites online. But these opportunities are nothing compared to what famous and successful health article writers have under their belt.

I have a long way to go, but pursuing my first great love, vis-à-vis health article writing, is one of my greatest sources of happiness and fulfillment. If I have to apply to another hundred companies, I wouldn’t mind. Question is, would you? Let your answer to this question guide you regarding your dream to be a health article writer. And like my page on Facebook, Stef dela Cruz, and get updates on available blogger jobs and writing tasks. Who knows, there might be one right now, so feel free to check!

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About the bloggerStef dela Cruz is a vegan doctor and writer. She received the 2013 Award for Health Media from the Department of Health. She is the editor of The Manila Bulletin's Animal Scene. Add her Google profile to your circles.

one of my friends told me, she is not into medical field, to be a health writer is only for medical professionals..which I thought she has a point..only those in the field can understand jargon and could make it more available in layman's terms..coz believe it or not, if we'll make our blog posts the same way we write px histories, sure thing, our readers will never get back to our blogs.. LOL!

i am a writer in our school peg since elementary..i used to write editorials, do copyreading and proofreading articles and been to national writing competitions in the country until high school..i just started blogging when i was in college already -- the time my mom forced me to stop writing/working (sideline) as a news writer in one newspaper company..now that i am into blogging, my writing skills is just badly gotten messed up..not that organized as before..ahahaha..

Good for you Doc to share your knowledge even through writings in this field.. ;)

I think I wanted to be one like you. I've been with health and nutrition research for 15 years and I agree, we got lots of those jargon/technical terms that only people in this field can understand it well. For now, I still need to learn how to put in writing everything that's on my mind and which are basically experiences from my previous work.

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Doctors don't just wear white coats - they also wear many hats! I now don the hat of a humble writer. I hope that by sharing anecdotes about doctors and stories about wellness, I can give you a peek behind the curtain and work with you to keep every Juan and Maria healthy.

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When this blog reached its second month, it became a PageRank 2 website! Thanks to all of you who continue to read, like, and share these articles - you are keeping others healthy and, ultimately, saving lives.

“Sayang naman ang pinag-aralan mo (what a waste your education was).”

That’s what people say when they find out that Stef dela Cruz is a doctor who traded her stethoscope for the humble pen. Her answer to them is this blog, as it is both a means and an end: It explains her decision to swap professions while it is also the very product of her calling to write.

A nurse and doctor who graduated with Latin honors in both degrees at the University of Santo Tomas, she is now a columnist for two print magazines and a website. She also contributes to a national newspaper.

Through her blog, she dreams of healing and saving lives, one article at a time. Join her in her mission – all you have to do is read and share.